The present invention relates to data communication. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system for communicating information between a utility metering device, such as a water meter, and a remote location, such as inside a residence or a service provider.
In the art today, utilities such as water and natural gas providers utilize mechanical devices affixed to the delivery pipe of each customer to determine individual usage. These devices typically use an impeller wheel of some kind in the path of the measured fluid to drive a calibrated, geared system for continually incrementing an analog display (e.g. values on a set of rotary dials) or digital display (e.g. a series of seven segment liquid crystals or light emitting diodes) of accumulated volumetric flow.
FIG. 1 provides an illustration of a conventional water meter 104 as used in the art today. A large diameter water main 102 is typically utilized to distribute water to several residential houses (or buildings) in an area. For billing purposes, it is necessary for the provider (in this case, the water company) to know how much water has been used during each billing period. To achieve this purpose, a water meter 104 is used. As stated above, an impeller 106 is often utilized as a component of the water meter 104. The flow of water 108 causes the impeller 106 to turn. The impeller 106 is directly linked to a geared system 110, which has been calibrated for volumetric accuracy, to provide a digital or analog display 112 of accumulated flow. The display 112 continually increments with each cubic volume (typically tenths or hundredths of a cubic foot) of water passing the water meter 104.
Because water and gas meters in the art today are isolated from the respective service providers, meter readers are necessarily hired to monitor the meter of each assigned building periodically. The information he/she collects is then used to calculate each customer""s bill. Besides being susceptible to human error in data recordation, this process is very expensive and inefficient. Further, this system provides no means for the customer to monitor his/her own service usage in real time. Meter readings can be difficult to interpret and utilize by a customer if they are accessible for the customer to view at all. Further, with the current art, it is difficult for the service provider or the customer to recognize a continuous, low usagexe2x80x94a strong indicator of a leak.
It is therefore desirable to have a system for communicating information between a utility metering device and a remote location to prevent the above-mentioned problems, as well as for other benefits.